Search Engine Marketing's Golden Triangle

In recent studies using eye-tracking technology, a new report from Enquiro, Did-It and Eyetools looks at how users interact with Google search results. According to the report browsers scan Google search results (SERPS) in an F-shaped pattern, with the eye traveling vertically along the far left side of the results, looking for relevant visual cues (e.g., keyword, brand names) and then moving to the right. Also, the way searchers react to organic results is different from the way they react to sponsored listings. This may thus place extra relevancy on getting your site well positioned via natural search engine optimisation particularly on results occupying the top left parts of the screen.

An interesting concept discussed in the report is "semantic mapping," which may eventually result in search marketers' optimising pages more effectively - with more of a focus on optimising for concepts rather than keywords. The idea is that when people search they're actually looking not merely for the best search result but for a site that best matches a concept in their minds.

The study also found that users of search engines tend to respond to search results that do the best job of matching the concept in the searcher's mind, regardless of the position of the search result on the page.

The study also examines other factors influencing search behavior, including the important role played by peripheral vision, the impact of bold search terms in results, demographic differences that can affect searcher preferences, and confidence in initial search results vs. those seen more than once.

To read more about the study please click here